Even in challenging times, universities must keep widening participation

We still live in an age when a person’s socio-economic background has a huge influence on their life chances. As in the past, those born into modest circumstances today frequently miss out on a quality education and find themselves in jobs rather than careers.

While education can reinforce inequalities, it is also an important channel for social mobility. It provides the opportunity for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are able and ambitious, to improve their circumstances and those of their families.

Universities need to reaffirm their commitment to social mobility in challenging times. There are three important dimensions to this shared purpose as public institutions. First, universities should ensure equal access to students, irrespective of their socio-economic background. Second, they should provide an all-round experience in which students thrive both academically and socially during their studies. Third, universities must help them launch their graduate careers, whether in the professions and management, establishing their own companies or working in social enterprises.

These aspirations are reflected in the Higher Education Policy Institute and London South Bank University’s English Social Mobility Index, the latest annual iteration of which is published today. The index measures the proportion of socially disadvantaged undergraduates an institution admits and how far it advances them socio-economically, combining measures of access, continuation and outcomes.

I am pleased to say that my institution, the University of Manchester, does well, ranking 21st out of 100 English institutions. And I am also pleased that it was here, in October, that university leaders from around the world met to discuss our obligations – as creators of the next generation of local and global leaders – in these unequal times, during Times Higher Education’s World Academic Summit.

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The workshop, launched by Manchester’s newly installed president and vice-chancellor, Duncan Ivison, and facilitated by me, was timely in the run up to the UK Labour government’s first budget and amid mounting concern about the falling value of England’s tuition fee and of maintenance loans and grants.

In the end, no announcements were forthcoming on Budget Day in late October but, shortly afterwards, education secretary Bridget Phillipson informed Parliament of her plan.

There are two dimensions to it. First, home undergraduate tuition fees will rise to £9,535 a year from 2025/2026: an increase of £285 on the £9,250 figure that has been frozen since 2017. The increase might help the immediate financial stability of the sector, even if it will be largely offset by the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions. And it will not be a major burden on graduates since the burden of repayment on income-contingent student loans remains low. 

Second, it was confirmed that maintenance loans would also go up, by as much as an extra £414 per year. Although there was no news on the possible reintroduction of universal maintenance grants, this rise should help students from the lowest-income families, who are feeling the effects of the high cost of living right now.

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Moreover, the secretary of state is explicit that the fee increase comes with strings, telling Hepi, “We will now demand more from the sector through far-reaching reform – including opening up access to working-class young people. We are committed to restoring universities as engines of opportunity, growth and aspiration.”

Yet it is not hard to imagine that poorer students will still need to juggle their studies with paid work to fund their daily living expenses. And there is no doubt that universities themselves will have to contribute more to supporting current and future students financially.

At the University of Manchester, we have now agreed to make a significant additional investment of £2.5 million per year in financial aid. We have reviewed our bursary eligibility criteria and significantly increased the income thresholds so we can provide nearly 20 per cent more scholarships and bursaries. This is just one way in which we hope to widen access and participation.

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In addition, we need to be even more focused on providing an excellent university experience for all our students. It is for us to find the ways and means to offer top-quality teaching in the best learning environment, drawing on the latest developments in technology, including AI. We will need to find the right mix of in-person and online learning for students at different levels of study. We still want students to enjoy a sense of belonging to a community of fellow learners; education is a social and sociable endeavour, after all. 

A flexible learning offer will be key to students who need to study and work. Many part-time jobs are low-paid – including the kinds of part-time jobs that students do on campus. This forces students to work longer hours than they might want and to, at times that are not conducive to their studies.

The University of Manchester recently became a fully accredited member of the Greater Manchester Employment Charter. We will need to consider how to be a good employer to students across a range of services. We also need to provide a careers service that showcases opportunities during and after their studies. 

The UK government has acknowledged that long-term solutions to university funding must be found, and we are hopeful that such a solution will be unveiled at spring’s spending review. All the answers do not lie with government, however. As the recently published Office for Students’ financial sustainability report indicates, universities will need to manage their finances well and radically reimagine their offering. Universities UK agrees.

Now, more than ever, we must find ways of supporting disadvantaged students to enjoy a university education. In this way, universities will play a pivotal role in facilitating greater social mobility. It is our duty to do so.

Fiona Devine is vice-president and dean of the faculty of humanities at the University of Manchester.